Mind of a Monster
by Evil Nun
Summary: Gavla's fearful respect slowly turns into something she doesn't fully understand. An overlooked pairing that I playfully mused with back in 2008.


She remembered that first day vividly. She had been freshly transformed, both physically and mentally, and had claimed to a close acquaintance that she had liked it, that it had felt great. The truth of the matter was it was pure agony, undergoing that transformation, and it had left her in pain, alone, confused, and absolutely terrified. She had said and acted the way she did because she now found looking weak even more detestable than before. That and she felt that they wanted her to help them capture the rest of her friends. Her name was Gavla, ex-Matoran of Light.

For a long time, she hadn't found any way to be useful to her new masters, until after that battle when the Mata Nui had been brought back to life, the consequences leaving three Makuta blind and in need of eyes. They had done well to improvise on the spot, but now that the battle had ceased, they had called together all the shadow Matoran to find more permanent guides.

She watched as Matoran were scrutinized by each Makuta, some more than others. Vamprah walked up the line slowly, sometimes pausing and seeming to study a Matoran with particular interest. Selecting a Matoran, he hoisted him onto his back. The Matoran looked from side to side, and than up and down. It was a peculiar sight, the Matoran acted almost as if he had never been here before and was trying to take in everything. Then, without a word from Makuta Vamprah, the Matoran seemed to stiffen and seem unsure about how to hold on or what to do with himself when suddenly Vamprah jumped over the edge. Gavla stood, slightly shocked and at the same time slightly amused by the idea of the Matoran flipping off his back from the wind currents and falling to his doom. A few minutes passed with the distant forms of the Makuta and his Matoran passenger flying around obstacles when they came back. The Makuta lifted the Matoran off his back and, while not unkindly, unceremoniously deposited him on the ground and resumed looking over the Matoran as if he were setting aside a tool that was unneeded or useless for the project he had in mind.

He did this for nearly an hour, selecting a single Matoran and going through the same routine as the first. Each one, like the first, was deposited after the flight, though with subtle increase of impatience. He stopped beside Gavla and she tried to hide any nervousness that began to creep into her. After a moment, she was startled by his thoughts in her mind,

_"What was your occupation before becoming a Shadow Matoran?"_

_"I worked on the defenses, construction, and repair of the city."_

_"So you know how to fight?"_

_"A little."_

_"Do you have any reserve or paranoia of heights that makes you inclined to avoid flying vehicles, climbing, or other high-altitude related actions?_

_"Not that I'm aware of…"_

_"Hmm..." _

Next thing she knew, she was being lifted up and repositioned onto his back. This time, she felt the cold chill of his mind connecting with hers and couldn't help but shudder from the sensation.

_"Look to the left"_

Without hesitating, she looked towards the left, and than to the right when instructed, following the same procedure as the others.

_"You have good sight, for a Matoran, the best so far of the group."_

_"Thank yo—"_

_"-It still falls dreadfully short in comparison to how I could see before this morning, but I suppose this is all we have to work with…" A mental sigh of frustration. "Hold on tight with your legs and hands, yes like that, and don't interfere with the wings. Grab my throat at any point of the flight like some of the others have and I swear to my brothers I'll drop you…" Gavla drew the conclusion that the other flights hadn't gone very smoothly for some of her companions. "…Look straight ahead unless directed to do otherwise. Don't close your eyes or else we're both going to get hurt, and I'm not in the mood to crash again. And for the sake of Karzahni don't scream! I don't need to be blind AND deaf…" _

Gavla, because of all the sudden information she had to keep in mind, felt rather unprepared and jumpy when suddenly Vamprah had leapt off the platform.

The lurch, the feeling of weightlessness as Vamprah's furled form dove towards the misty swamp head first initially terrified Gavla and made her compulsively shut her eyes, quickly opening them upon remembrance of Vamprah's instruction and the feeling in her mind of anger rising from the form of the Makuta. With a sound similar to the wind filling a loose sail, Vamprah's leathery wings unfurled and she then experiences the sensation of leaving her stomach behind as they were swiftly carried up in a sharp, skyward loop.

The feeling of terror was soon replaced with excitement. She had never felt so free—nor had ever gone so fast—before in her life. She would have laughed then for joy, were it not for the sour mood of her bearer, but couldn't keep in the giggle that escaped.

_"Look left, then right, then straight."_

She did, and felt her stomach suddenly sink at the few baubles that accompanied the flight.

_"Did I…Do something wrong?"_

_"No, I'm just not used to seeing things through another's eyes and coordinating my actions based on what they see. Those flight quirks will go soon enough. I wish to turn left, look to see if there are any obstacle I need to avoid but without leaving me blind to what is up ahead." _

She looked, taking a quick but thorough scan to her left, and then looked straight.

_"That won't do…" [/i]He said while turning, [i]"For joy rides, yes, but I'm not going to be flying just for the fun of it. In twenty seconds on my mark, I want you to scan again like you did the first time, but instead of looking straight, I want a more diagonal angle so that I can see what is ahead of me and what is to the side, understood? Good, the time starts now…" _

Gavla tensed as she silently kept count. Then, when she reached the end of her count, she took a sweeping glance, and then looked off of his left shoulder.

_"Good…"_He took a long, sweeping arc to the left. _"…Your timing was off, but that wasn't the point. Now, where are we…?" _She felt him sifting through her memories, each thing he saw she would subsequently see in her own mind.

_"Ah, I see now…I remember…The land is still unfamiliar to me in parts. We'll be heading up to the stalactites now."_

_"…I could have told you where we were…"_

_"Yes, but there may be occasions where I need information faster then you can give it to me. In such cases, I need to know how your mind works and how it records information, otherwise I won't be able to find anything under the heat of battle. If this is going to work, we're going to have to become very synchronized in our thinking and become one unit as much as possible. Now, to the ceiling…" _

Suddenly, instead of "hearing" instructions, she almost felt where he wanted her to go, as if it were her own will guiding her. It was as if he had stripped a bearer between them, allowing the Makuta's thoughts to slowly become her own. She looked upwards, stopping when she felt that it was high enough.

The stalactites loomed above them like thousands of daggers as they flew closer to them. She could feel herself tensing up, yet at the same time could feel the relative calmness of Vamprah. Up and up they went, until they were in the thick of them, and then they leveled out and, while flying at a slower rate, wove in and out without "saying" a word to each other but merely interpreting each other's thoughts. After a while, she could feel his confidence in her grow and his wings began to beat faster, propelling them at a faster rate then before. Her nervousness was gone by now and she even felt amusement as she noticed that Vamprah would turn his own head in time with hers, even though it didn't aid them in sight. He stopped moving his head when he felt her amusement, but after a while fell back into that pattern, having melded his thoughts enough to coordinate his actions with her sight and thoughts. Nothing seemed to come as a surprise to her, as she knew as instinctively as Vamprah where they were going and how they would maneuver themselves to get there. Vamprah suddenly landed on one of the longer stalactites, crawled his way down, his claws digging into the stone, and then let go, plunging back towards the platform.

They landed, and Gavla began to feel his mind disconnect from hers slowly as they glanced around at the awaiting Matoran. Chirox, who had found a suitable matoran for a guide during the battle was not present, and Antroz has just finished selecting his own set of "eyes." Vamprah, being the last, nodded to the other matoran and turned away from them, walking in the direction of his temporary home.

At the end of the walkway, he paused and they both looked up at the cave, pointing out a specific hole to her mentally.

_"I will be expecting you to be here tomorrow promptly at 6:00 so that we can go warm up before setting out for the next village. Don't be late." _

He lowered himself to one knee, bringing his shoulder to the ground. Gavla understood and hopped off and stood still as he went back to his full height and, taking a moment to adjust to blindness again, tenderly climbed the cliff face to his abode.

Gavla was speechless at first, a mixture of disbelief and joy at the thought of being Makuta Vamprah's personal guide, but also from the sensation of incompleteness after having been part of a more powerful mind for so long. It was then that she realized how incredibly tired she was, both emotionally and physically, and stumbled back to her home, her thoughts filled with what the future might bring.

xXx

She was there a good 15 minutes before 6:00 the next morning, partially from enthusiasm, but mostly for fear of being late. Vamprah appeared not a second before or after 6:00 and made his way down to the platform. Swinging the little shadow Matoran onto his back, he took a moment to firmly establish the mental link and then took off, starting off slow until they got used to each other's mental presence and then bumped up the pace, working on coordination. An hour later, Gavla was startled when a very different voice interrupted their thoughts.

_"I see you are ready." _The voice of Antroz seemed to boom uncomfortably compared to the mental silence she had been experiencing. Immediately the presence of Chirox and Antroz with their "eyes" was made known to them as she, turning her head by Vamprah's will, saw them taking off from a platform far below. Vamprah dove, leveling out behind them as the three headed towards a village on the outskirts of her home. Vamprah didn't need to tell her what was happening, through his emotions and visual thoughts Gavla knew that they were on their first trial run in battle against her former friends. Her hands trembled from excitement and she could feel a sense of amusement emanate from Vamprah when he felt her enthusiasm towards attacking her former friends.

Days passed, and the two had fallen into a routine; meet at 6:00, work together, testing the limits of what they could and couldn't do, and then spend the rest of the day doing whatever needed to be done. She spent more time in his mind then outside of it, and couldn't have been happier. She marveled at the complexity of the Makuta, and even startled him a few times when she had learned of something she had never witnessed due to their connection. He tried to block her out, but found that their coordination suffered for it, and resigned himself to having no more private thoughts, telling himself that if she learned too much he could destroy her and find another guide.

It came insidiously, the tender feelings she thought had been erased upon her light-drainage. But she slowly came to realize that the more she was with Makuta Vamprah, the more she couldn't help but become more obsessed with him, at least that's what she told herself it was…Obsession. But subconsciously, she knew it to be something more. And she knew that he wouldn't like it if he found out. So she was determined to disguise it and call it by any name other than what she knew it was. This way, he would never know…

xXx

_"This needs to stop." _

Gavla was startled by his sudden thoughts. _"…What?"_

_"This…Infatuation," _She could feel his disgust rising up in him as he continued,_"It was cute at first, Matoran, but now it has become simply annoying. It has gotten to the point where I'm finding your emotions distracting…No, I do not mean it in that way, get that idea out of your head. When I'm attacking a Toa, I don't want to have any…Mixed feelings. The timing of your thoughts and sentiments has brought about some very disturbing moments. I cannot afford to be distracted by YOUR wild emotions while under the heat of battle. Discipline yourself and your passions if you want to continue being my eyes. From this point on, all petty obsessive thoughts of yours are to be kept at home when we are not working together. Understood?"_

_"Yes…"_ Gavla answered, a bit embarrassed but also incredibly hurt and angry by his complete disregard to her own feelings. Petty? Infatuation? Is that what he called them? She was a living being too! Could she help who she grew to love? Petty emotions indeed…

_"I said these thoughts were to be kept at home…"_ He interrupted tersely, and Gavla did her best to keep the thoughts away with very little success. When their flight was done, he dropped her off a little rougher than usual, turned, and without acknowledging her help, left her without his usual parting nod of approval.

Gavla glared at his back as he left until he had vanished into his abode, and then stormed off in the direction of her own home. How she hated him right then, she thought to herself. She rushed forward, pushing her way through the groups of Matoran who didn't make way for her, ignoring their angered shouts and threats as she entered her home and slammed the door defiantly. There wasn't much in her home; a few books, some memoirs of her previous life, little nick-knacks, and the most basic set of furniture. The fact that she had little to begin with didn't make her refrain from destructively displaying her hurt and anger.

When her fit of rage was done, it left her breathing heavily and with only a bed that remained undamaged. The table had been smashed against the wall, the books shredded to kindling, and everything fist-sized had been thrown and smashed against a wall, the crushed and broken shards littering her floor like frozen tears.

xXx

She woke up at the usual time and made her way back to his lair consistent as clockwork. She knew the routine well, and the rage of last night was all but forgotten. She felt sure that Vamprah had just woken up on the wrong side of the cave and wouldn't even bring up yesterday's discussion. Presently, she heard the familiar scraping sound of his claws and looked up, smiling as she saw his blind, yet still graceful, form make its way down the rock face, the path he took becoming more and more apparent from frequent and memorized use. She stood ready as he walked slowly over, and then stood dumbstruck as his slender form brushed past her and continued on.

"Umm…Makuta Vamprah?" She timidly began, "I'm right here."

He didn't even pause or show any sign to acknowledge her presence.

Gavla watched, a slight sense of unease creeping in, as her Makuta marched along and finally paused in front of a Matoran who stood sharpening his dagger. He looked down at him, and with a nod helped the Matoran swing onto his back. In a moment the two were gone.

Gavla couldn't move at first, too shocked and confused to react. Had he heard her? Had he thought that other Matoran was her? Was he feeling ill? But no matter how much she tried to justify his actions, she knew that every action, every step away from her was done deliberately and to humiliate her. In short, he had done it to make a quick and unquestionable point. One that she would be forced to accept.

Slowly the feelings of confusion left and were replaced with rage. She turned sharply, and avoiding the eyes of her very surprised—and some spitefully amused—companions, made her way back to her home.

"Petty, obsessive emotions indeed…" She muttered angrily, the previous day's mental-conversation with Vamprah on her mind as she made her way to her bed. "If he had wanted an unfeeling guide, why didn't he ask Makuta Mutran to make him a blasted robot or some some rahi for all I care?" She grabbed her pillow, holding it tightly against her chest and working her claws feverishly into it. "As if I was trying to be 'cute' in the first place!" She screamed to the wall across from her. "Infatuation! Oh yes, irrational and temporary, that's what I am, is that it? Just one, big, temporary, irrational, emotional mess! Well, pardon me for being who I am!" She sat there, thinking again of all he had said.

The funny thing about communicating through the mind is that, whatever you say becomes a lot more vivid than things that are spoken out loud. Perhaps because it skips the process of the inner ear capturing vibrations for the brain to translate into thoughts and memory, and along with that, with a close connection like the one the Makuta had with their "eyes," you could also feel the emotion that accompanied the thought, as if it were simply your own thoughts you were thinking off. That is why, while thinking about what he had said, Gavla could "hear" more than just the words, but his disappointment, could feel the revulsion he felt towards her honest and most sincere feelings towards him. That for the very reason she adored him, he was growing to hate her.

That is why, with his loathing towards her still fresh in her mind, her head slowly fell to the pillow and with deep, heart-felt sobs, she poured out her soul, the pain of rejection, to the only object she currently possessed that she knew wouldn't laugh in her face to see her so weak.

xXx

The next day she came at her usual time and waited outside his lair, but again was snubbed. Each subsequent day followed the same pattern of faithfully showing up outside his home and each time being completely ignored like she was invisible. The dagger-sharpening Matoran apparently had failed miserably at being a guide, as Vamprah didn't keep him on for long. Each day he chose a new guide, sometimes going through 5 Matoran in a single day. Still, Gavla waited, saying to herself that he hadn't told her not to show up…To stop coming would be disobeying orders! Subconsciously, she knew it was just another justification for her hope that Vamprah would have her as his eyes again.

One day, it got particularly bad. Gavla had stopped counting how many Matoran Vamprah had tried when she noticed something from the corner of her eye. She looked up, and couldn't believe her eyes. There was Vamprah, careening like a drunken seabird into stalactites and flying shadow Matoran alike.

"What the Karzahni…?"

Gavla looked up to see Antroz next to her, his face tilted up at the same angle as Radiak's. She could feel her face go crimson at the thought of what this other Makuta might be thinking of Vamprah. She couldn't bare the thought of the crimson Makuta thinking ill of him.

She turned back to Vamprah, who was now wildly flying towards the platform, and barely managed to avoid being decapitated by his wing as he swooped in. He landed, or rather, belly-flopped onto the platform, the clenched-eyed matoran clinging tightly to his neck. He stood up and grabbed the matoran roughly by the scruff of the neck. The poor thing squeaked and clung the harder, but was quickly torn off and sent hurtling away from him and well beyond the edge of the platform. Gavla noted that this particular Matoran's wings seemed odd-shaped and malformed as he disappeared from sight.

Antroz "looked" inquiringly at Vamprah who seemed fit to strangle someone, Gavla had never seen him look so angry before. The blue Makuta stormed off, tripping over an object and hissed angrily. Gavla followed softly behind, not caring what Antroz or Radiak were thinking.

"…Makuta Vamprah…?"

The Makuta ignored her and bumped into a shadow Matoran who had chosen a very bad time to not pay attention to his surroundings.

"Makuta Vamprah, can I be of assistance?"

Again, he made no response, except for flinging the unfortunate Matoran over the edge.

Gavle knew the dangers of trying a Makuta's patience, but she couldn't stand being treated like a ghost anymore.

"Makuta Vamprah!"

He stopped, and turned his head as if to look over his shoulder. Although she knew he couldn't see her, the timing and the sense that he was listening for his prey to make a sound made her chest constrict with fear. Suddenly, she wished she hadn't been so bold.

"…I…I was wondering if you wanted to go for a quick flight or attack a village or…Or something..."

Quicker than she could register his hand was at her throat and she was suddenly several feet of the ground and level with his head. Though his dead eyes couldn't focus on her, they were frightening to look at. She struggled to free herself, knowing that there was nothing she could do to prevent him from snapping her neck right then and there. He held, not flinching or moving a muscle, his face a horrifying display of malice. She tried to say something, but couldn't due to the crushing pressure on her throat. Light began to explode across her vision as a dull ringing filled her ears.

Then, when she was sure that the last thing she would see would be his hate-filled face, his features slowly softened and his hand relaxed. She gasped, taking deep gulps of air as he swung her onto his back. She felt the cold dark touch of his mind connect to hers as he answered the unspoken question.

_"I'd be a fool to kill the only decent and quick-witted guide we have. How is it that you're the only Matoran who has an ounce of reflex, isn't afraid of heights, and is at least a little battle savvy?"_

_"You'll have to talk to the great beings about that one, I don't know."_

_"Hmph."_

xXx

She made her way to the exit out of Karda Nui, feeling lost and heart sick. It had been days since Vamprah had accepted her again and they had silently come to an agreement; Vamprah wouldn't make comment on Gavla's emotions, and Gavla would do her best to control her thoughts and emotions so not to distract or embarrass him. It worked out for the best and they soon had fallen back in sync to the old routine.

And then, everything went downhill with that final battle, the partial conclusion of which left Gavla as a Matoran of Light, if only by a mere technicality. In her heart, she still belonged to the darkness.

She had made her way blindly to the portal Takanuva had commanded her to go to with directions to a "Metru Nui." She didn't want to go, but who was she to argue with a Toa now that she was on their side again. Before she knew it, she was standing before the yawning entrance of the portal. She looked down the dark passage, feeling afraid of the shadows for the first time in a month. She hated that. Placing her hand along the frame of the passage way, she stared despondently into the dark passage that served now as a gate, not between Metru Nui and Karda Nui, but rather between her light-loving comrades and the darkness she adored. She stared, seeing not the shadows, the silhouettes of her 'friends' on the other side, but rather a fork in the road, a path she could not return from once taken. Time seemed to cease around her as she weighed all her possible futures.

Her eyes narrowed as she clenched her hand and straightened herself. But instead of entering the passage way to a new life, she turned around, aware that doing so would most likely lead only to death, but the more she thought about it, the more she was convinced that without Vamprah, there wasn't a reason for her to exist. She set out, the turbulent winds of the gathering storm starting to whip around her. If she could find Vamprah, she could lead him to the exit. Together they could escape, but without her she knew Vamprah would never find a way out.

xXx

Vamprah wheeled about, the gathering wind making it difficult to fly. He tried to not fight it, but rather use the air currents to his advantage. He knew where the portal was, having been the Makuta who had found it long ago. If he could make it there before the storm gathered full force he would be safe.

A scream, a feeling like something was violently ripped from his mind, and an involuntary shudder coursed through him…

_"Two…"_ He counted to himself. That was the second Makuta the storm had claimed, Bitil by the sound and feel of it.

For the first time in a very, very long time, Vamprah was afraid; afraid that for once the hunter would not be fast enough.

Gavla progress was slow, going against the increasing wind as she was. Swamp trees were literally being ripped up from their beds by the turbulent storm as it progressed in violence and strength. She felt afraid. Not for herself, but for whether she could find Vamprah in time, or at all.

The flight became more and more difficult. Vamprah had already crashed several times, forcing himself to ignore all pain and injury which was made easier by the sense of panic and adrenaline that coursed through him. If only he could see! Then at least he wouldn't have crashed half as often and would be sure that he was going in the right direction, both facts only making him slower and lose valuable time. His wings ached from the struggle and his armor along his upper back felt crimped in a weird way since the last crash. Another sudden gust, and he went spiraling down, hitting the soft mud and a few logs. He lay dazed for a moment, and then attempted to get up, but found it difficult due to his armored leg being twisted into an unnatural position from that last collision with the ground. He could feel the heat of the storm growing, coming closer with each passing moment.

At first Gavla thought she saw another log whizzing through the air, but realized in a moment what it was Vamprah. She had found him! But it was obvious he was having trouble. She made her way to him as quickly as the storm would allow.

Vamprah thought he had heard a voice, but took no notice of it on account of the cacophony all around him. He was startled then when he felt a small hand grab him by the tip of his battered wing. Thinking it was a panic-stricken Rahi, he made to shove it away.

_"Makuta Vamprah!"_

_"Who...Wait…What the Karzanhi is she doing here?"_

Gavla couldn't believe she had found him, though he was hardly recognizable between the mud and his battered condition which she irrationally blamed herself for. In a moment she was on his back, noting the sever wound from a previous fall. Their minds connected, but Vamprah, who had been unaware of her change, recoiled from her, startled and pained by the now bright mind that was next to his. He was about to mentally attack, thinking it was some trick from a shape-shifting Rahi, when her thoughts came in.

_"Forgive me, Makuta, the Toa of Light forced me back into what I was before. It wasn't by my choice."_

_"…Yes, it is you, isn't it?"_ His mind replied, and she was dismayed by how tired and exhausted it sounded. She than noticed through her mental link how fatigued he was from his current battle with the storm.

_"Come on! We haven't much time. We're almost to the exit, a little farther and we'll be out of here!" _

Another mental scream, another violent ripping sensation, and both Matoran and Makuta shuddered uncontrollably.

_"Four…"_ He said, noting what he believed was Antroz' departure.

_"What…?"_ Gavla began.

_"I'll explain later."_ He replied, using what energy he had left to propel himself up and flying as best he could towards the exit.

They flew together, battling the storm and making good progress with the aid of Gavla's sight. While it now hurt to be connected to her mind, Vamprah strove to remain linked, knowing that it was the only option for survival.

As they flew, he thought, and marveled, at Gavla's emotions and most recent memories. She had been there, about to leave, was guaranteed escape from certain doom, and she had chosen to turn around and find him. How idiotic, how illogical and just plain stupid, how…

Similar words failed him, because he was grateful she had come back, knowing that he would no doubt have joined his brothers and sister by now had she not come. He—they—now had a second chance to make it out, to survive, to live…And he honestly didn't know what to make of it.

Another sudden gust, and if he hadn't been so worn out, he would have been able to ride it out. As it was, his wings could simply not withstand the strain and thus they were sent colliding into a fallen stalactite. He lay there, paralyzed from pain and exhaustion.

_"Come on!"_ Gavla's voice pleaded.

_"I…Can't…"_ He answered, finding it hard to even stay conscious at this point.

_"We're almost there! I think I can see the exit from here. A hundred more feet and we'll be free!"_

_"Then go and be free, Matoran…"_ Came his reply, softer than before. _"I have given everything I can, there is nothing left..."_

Gavla couldn't believe her ears. The great Makuta Vamprah, terror of Matoran, hunter of Toa, ruler of nations…Was giving up?

She looked over at his wings, they were nearly shredded to pieces, and the left was bent unnaturally having taken the brunt of the fall. She could feel him fading, falling under sheer exhaustion.

_"Try once more! A few more strokes of those wings and you can rest in safety outside!" _

There was no response, no current of emotion suggesting that he had even heard her. She was about to try again when she felt him tense underneath her and stand.

He jumped—a weak one at that—and flew a few feet before the storm took advantage of his damaged wing and sent him slamming into the ground. A groan escaped him, the first audible thing she had ever heard from him, and it tore her apart. She looked ahead, knowing he'd see as well, and was fairly sure that she could dimly make out the form of the doorway. She looked behind, and saw that the storm was nearly upon them.

_"Gavla, go. Even if I could stand I wouldn't make it out. You may not even make it if you run. Go…" _

"No…" she replied out loud. "I made my choice, and I do not wish to live if I cannot be wi—Serve you…"

_"Foolish stupid Matoran,"_ he mentally spat, _"after all this, do you not understand who we are? We're masters of destruction, Makuta, rebels and blackguards. We even revolted against Mata Nui! If anything, you should have fled from me and this place the moment you changed." _

_"I know you can't understand..."_ Gavla said gently, due to the influence of her lighter self. _"But all the same, I will not leave you, regardless of what you think or say of me." _

She leaned down and embraced as much of his shoulders as she could, resting her forehead at the base of his head, trying to will the tears away.

She waited for the scolding, the cursing, and the feeling of loathing to lash out, but it never came. Instead, a warm sensation washed over her, it wasn't love, she had trouble placing it at first, but decided it lay somewhere between respect and sincere concern, with a little bit of confusion and a longing to understand mixed in. Perhaps, she realized, it was the closest feeling any Makuta could come to feeling love.

_"So be it…"_ Came his mental reply, soft as a whisper. She could feel him fading while he struggled to stay awake with her until the end. _"I never could understand your kind…"_ There was no sarcasm in what he said, just a simple, honest statement.

And so they waited, sharing no more mental conversations, but simply taking comfort in each other's presence and final thoughts as the storm marched ever closer.

xXx

Welp...This is an oldie back from probably 2008 that I wrote for a Short Story Valentine contest on BZPower. I'm not a romance writer, and this was the best I could do and still take myself seriously. Given that BZP has undergone yet another change and that the original story was deleted back when the server crashed ages ago, I thought I'd upload this here for those few who enjoyed it in the past and might want a more "permanent" location. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this one anymore (given how old it is) and I almost didn't post it until I remembered how bothered I get when I can't find a story I'm dying to read and can't find anywhere. There were a few people who enjoyed this back in the day, so if you're one of those few you just now stumbled on this, I posted it just for you. 3


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